Over the course of a 34-year stint in the Canadian Army Reserves, ensuring others were looked after has often been the role of Elora barrister Greg Oakes.
He joined the Guelph-based 11th Field Artillery Regiment at the age of 16, rising through the ranks to his current position of captain.
As a battery commander, Oakes was responsible for everyone below the rank of captain.
“I’d be responsible for their training, their careers,” said Oakes, who noted about 10 per cent of the soldiers from his regiment rotated through Afghanistan, where the Canadian contingent was involved in combat roles.
“We had a family support plan, so I was in charge of that as well. So I looked after making sure all the moms and relatives were coping as well. That’s a huge responsibility … a reserve family doesn’t have the support that they would if they were on an army base,” he said.
These days Oakes, who is planning on retiring from the military in the near future, concentrates much of his time on ensuring veterans are treated fairly and equitably.
A member of the Royal Canadian Legion since the age of 18, Oakes is currently veterans services officer for the Elora branch and chair of the Veteran’s Services and Seniors Committee for the Legion’s Ontario Provincial Command.
In the latter role, he has been involved in providing Legion input into a review of the veteran’s charter by federal Veterans Ombudsman Guy Parent.
In September, Parent released a review that indicates the veterans charter, established in 2006, puts wounded veterans at risk of hardship and poverty.
“We’re creating a class of homeless veterans,” Oakes stated in a recent interview with the Advertiser.
The charter originally provided a lump sum benefit to injured soldiers, which was different from the pension-for-life approach provided to Second World War and Korean War veterans, as well as peacetime veterans who received pensions through legislation in force prior to 2006.
“The award has gone up through inflation. But the problem is this: you’re giving out a lump sum, it doesn’t last the life of he veteran, these are young people. So under the old system, they’d get a pension for life,” said Oakes.
“In some ways, you can argue that they’re creating homeless veterans, because you have a guy with post traumatic stress disorder or a brain injury and he gets $100,000, he goes through it very quickly and we’re finding that there are homeless veterans in the cities, in Toronto, Ottawa, across the country.”
The government agreed there was a problem and switched from lump sum to graduated monthly payments of the award. However, that still didn’t address all the problems, said Oakes.
“Under the old system, pension for life. Under the new system, yeah you could call it a pension, but it’s not really. If you do the actuarials it’s a lot less.”
Oakes also notes, “there’s a big claw back coming when you turn 65.”
Another concern is that any veteran who is injured early in their military career also loses the opportunity to build up their pension and benefit level.
“You’re frozen in time essentially,” explains Oakes. “If you’re injured when you’re a captain, or you’re injured when you’re a corporal, your salary is quite different.”
Legion leadership is seeking fairness for all veterans, Oakes pointed out.
“Essentially what Ontario Command of the Legion is saying is we’ve got to correct this. It isn’t fair. It isn’t just. These fellows put themselves in harm’s way and they have some serious issues and they should be dealt with the way that the others are dealt with.”
Treatment of injured reservists is another issue that’s evolving under the charter, says Oakes.
“Reservists don’t have the same benefits. And in a way that makes sense. You don’t pay your part-time people the same way you pay your full-time people. But, when a reservist is doing the same job as a regular forces person, fighting the same war or facing the same danger, their broken leg or broken arm has to be worth the same as the others.’ And, initially, it wasn’t under the charter. That’s since been amended, but those are the things we have to be vigilant and watch out for and make sure that everyone gets the help they need.”
Ontario Command is also keeping it’s eye on the status of existing veteran’s hospitals, which are losing beds as the number of World War II and Korean War veterans diminishes.
“They don’t need beds for these very old veterans so they’re closing some of these beds and they’ll probably close them entirely. What the Legion is saying is wait a minute, what about all these cold war veterans that are now aging? What about all these peacekeepers that are now aging? What about all these younger Afghanistan veterans? What’s going to happen to them?”
Oakes says the Legion feels the federal government should continue to provide this type of specialized hospital care to all veterans.
“Why can’t we leave these hospitals open? Why can’t we continue to help veterans? Is the federal government still interested in this, or are they trying to pass that on to the province? Because I assume if there are no veterans hospitals they’ll have to go into a community facility like anyone else. So that’s an issue.”
While Oakes isn’t sure what the best solution would be, he says, “studies need to be done so we don’t face a crisis.”
Oakes says the Legion realizes the government does not have unlimited funds for veterans services.
“They’ve got a budget, I understand that, and they have addressed some of these issues,” he noted.
However, he added, “There’s a lot of easy things that don’t cost a lot of money, that won’t break the bank, that the government can do to make things easier for these people.”
One such move would be the establishment of a veteran’s identification card. Oakes says corporations and communities often have programs that would assist veterans, and a universal ID card would help them access programs and services. Such a card, he points out, is among the recommendations in the Ombudsman’s report.
“It’s been recommended and how much could it cost?” Oakes wonders.
At the crux of the current debate is the a preference for a “One Veteran” policy indicated in the Ombudsman’s report that would mean all veterans are treated the same at ceremonies and for benefits. It’s a position the Legion supports, says Oakes.
“Were trying to say, they’re all veterans, every last one of them. Whether they only had the uniform on for a short period of time, or a long period of time – whether they were in combat or not – one veteran.”
Oakes says individual citizens can help by writing to their MP to express their support for the Legion’s position on the Ombudsman’s recommendations.
“I would say that’s a huge help. It never hurts to inform your MP.”
